All I Want For Christmas
by myboygeorge
Summary: It's Christmas time. Esposito's sister Lili reflects on the 1st Christmas she and Cam almost didn't get to have together.  One-shot, rated M for language.  Present day is set at the end of 'Not For Tots' flashback is between ch 7 and 8 of Better Together


_Okay, here we are! This one does a bit of a time leap but it is totally worth it! Any love you send will be most welcome! Enjoy!_

_Almost forgot this part - the song is not mine, it's just one I really like. Enjoy!  
><em>

* * *

><p>'Mami you outdid yourself yet again.'<p>

Esposito grinned at his mother as they - himself, Meredeth and the kids, Lili, Cam, their kids, and his parents - all leaned back from the table with bellies filled near to bursting. 'Good thing we are having turkey on the twenty-sixth, because I don't think I need to eat for the next three days.'

'Javi, you are such a pig,' Lili teased her brother as he wiped sauce from Max's mouth. 'You know in half an hour you're going to be bugging Mami for dessert.'

'We are going to have those apply thing-a-ma-whoozers?' Tessi asked, waving her hands near her temple to try and organize her thoughts. 'Fritters! Apple fritters.'

'Of course, Tessi, don't we always?' Alejandro winked at his granddaughter, then made a funny face at Leo who was making faces at Rosie. 'You know, you are not careful, Alejo, your face will freeze like that.'

'I be a zombie?'

'Something like that.'

'Well, listen, zombie face, how about you go with your sisters and brother and cousins into the living room while the grown-ups get tidied up.'

'I'll keep an eye on the children,' Lili volunteered, sneering playfully at her brother. 'I set the table with Cam, _hermano_.'

'Looks like you're on KP duty, bro,' Cam said, planting his cane to pull himself up to his feet and following Lili into the living room where naturally, the six children were all in a circle on the floor playing a card game of some kind. This group of children loved to play cards, he thought, taking a seat beside his bride. He saw the loving light of memory in her eyes and gave her a little nudge. 'I know that look. You're thinking about something.'

'Our first married Christmas together. Hardly seems like it was ten years ago, huh?'

'I know.'

Lili felt her husband wrap his arm around her waist, hold her close as the memories of it, vivid and colourful, flooded back to her.

* * *

><p><strong>Ten Years Ago - Iraqi Desert<strong>

Cam sat in the driver's seat of the humvee, fighting fatigue with every bone in his body as darkness began to settle in over the desert. God he wanted to go home. Not for good, he still had a job to do here but just for like a day or two to see Lili. He missed her so much, and it had broken his heart to hear the stifled tears in her voice when he'd been at base and been forced to make the call to tell her that due to budget restrictions all holiday furlough passes had been revoked. He wanted nothing more than to take her in his arms and soothe her worrying heart, then make love to her to make up for it; he'd start by taking off her blouse and bra, squeeze her-

'Hey, Curious George, think fast.'

Cam squinted in the dimming light out his window, then saw the porno-mag his fellow corpsman Trent Carver waved in his face. 'I'm good, man.'

'Seriously?' From the back seat Lee Wright leaned forward, gave the mag Carver held up a surveying look. 'You're passing up pussy-shots like that? The fuck's the matter with you?'

Beside Wright, Jose Rodrigues snorted in derision. 'You're forgetting, he spent all his time back state-side getting laid with his woman.'

'Oh yeah, spent your first four months in prison bending over, huh?'

'It's why all you two have are magazines, here or at home,' Carver commented, rounding the hood to swing back into the humvee. He slammed the door, twisted to look at the two men in the backseat. 'Both of you, dig a grave, we're here for the night until oh-dawn-thirty.'

'You got it.'

Wright and Rodrigues bolted from the humvee; when they were gone Cam fished the picture of Lili out of his breast pocket and just admired it. He loved photographs of hot naked women as much as the next man, but this one outdid them all in his opinion - this was his Lili. For this particular shot, she'd gotten herself all dolled up in her Catholic school uniform and sexified the shit out of it. The white shirt tied was up beneath her breasts; she wasn't wearing a bra so her hardened nipples stood out like little diamonds beneath the fabric, and the skirt was pinned so he could see she was wearing a thong beneath the plaid, her curvy backside highly visible.

Looking at it, he twisted his wedding ring and grew hard thinking of those amazing four months they'd had together once he'd returned from his second tour. As he let his mind wander, his hand drift down to the fly of his pants while he wondered if he could convince her to send him another picture, this time without the panties Cam was brought back to it when his fellow corpsman spoke. Jerking off to his wife's photo would have to wait a few more minutes.

'Don't let 'em get in your head space, Cam,' Carver commented, looking out the window . 'Wright's pissy 'cause he missed his son being born and Jose just wants to go home to Amy, you know that, he's been out here longer than some of the commanders.'

'I know, just missing Lili.' Cam debated it, then decided fuck it, Carver was a good guy and would keep his mouth shut if he asked him to. 'Can I tell you something?'

'Sure.'

'It'd be brutal on me if it got out, though.'

'Lieutenant, you have my word.'

Cam sighed wistfully, thinking of Lili and the feeling of waking up beside her. 'Lili and I, you know we got married back in April, right?'

'Yeah, congrats on that man. Don't let those idiots get to you, 'cause you're probably getting laid way more in a week than they do in two months.'

'That's what I mean. Lili...I'm the only guy she's ever had sex with. And the first time we did was our wedding night.'

Carver whistled, shook his head. 'That's commitment, man, seriously, that's a lot of love right there. Tell me about her.'

'She's, ah, Puerto Rican, from Spanish Harlem in Manhattan. She's an accountant at the Waldorf-Astoria there, and she's got a smile that makes me wanna get her all kinds of naked.'

'Spoken like a true newlywed,' Carver laughed. 'How'd you meet?'

'She'd sliced her hand on a letter opener at work and I stitched her up. We bumped into each other while she was waiting for the bus and I left GW on my end of shift. She's a great girl. Got a big brother in the NYPD and he told me if I hurt her, he had a lot of friends who'd swear up and down he had nothing to do with my disappearance.'

'Missing her a lot I bet.'

'Yeah, yeah, I am.'

'Well, this is part of the reason I sent those two combat-jacked rednecks out.' Carver passed his lieutenant a piece of paper. 'You've got orders to report to Skyhawk immediately.'

* * *

><p><strong>Ten Years Ago -<strong>** Manhattan**

'Javi, are you sure you can't come tonight?'

'I'm sorry, Lili,' Esposito replied as he headed for the subway. 'I'm working late tonight so Mere and I will have the next four days uninterrupted for holiday time.'

'You two are spending Christmas together? That serious already?'

'Yeah, and she's coming to Mami and Papa's tomorrow too.'

'Wow, my big brother in love. So cute.'

Lili looked over at the woman who knocked on the dressing room door. 'I have to go, it's time to warm up. Tell me about it after the concert, okay?'

'For sure.'

Lili told her brother she loved him, hung up as she adjusted her church choir robes. It was December twenty-second and she was trying not to think of how much it was hurt that her first Christmas as a married woman would be spent without her husband. She didn't begrudge him going back for a third tour; there were too many soldiers dying because there weren't enough doctors to treat the wounded in base hospitals or MASH units.

She couldn't change the circumstances but she could make the best of them, so she would plaster a smile on her face tonight and lead the children's choir through their repertoire, then follow it up with her performance in the adult choir. That part, at least, Lili could get excited about - they always chose soloist who got to close the concert with a secular Christmas song and this year, she was the lucky chosen one. There hadn't been a single doubt in her mind what song Lili was going to sing, as there was only one that would be both upbeat and have a very special, personal meaning for herself as well.

The silver lining was, of course, if she screwed up the final high note her husband wouldn't be there to hear her flub it.

She met the children's group in the rehearsal room, took them through their warm-ups, then reminded them to smile as she led the ensemble out to the pulpit to give their performance. The children sang their little hearts out, giving the classic hymns like 'What Child Is This' and 'O Little Town of Bethlehem'; they sang no secular song as they were going to be invited back with the adult choir to sing a song of unity after Lili had her solo.

When the children had finished and they'd been led off by Lili's assistant choir director, she took her place with the men and women her own age in the soprano section to perform her part in the other hymns. Each song made her more and more nervous as she drew closer to her solo. Finally the moment had arrived - Father Jorge Delgado took to his usual spot to make the announcement as Lili stepped to centre stage.

'As many of our parishioners know, every year we ask a soloist to perform and this year the choir voted on Lili George-Esposito. Many of you know that Lili's husband Cameron is a nurse in the United States Marine Corps and is currently serving his third tour in Iraq. Tonight, amongst our celebrations, let us keep Lieuntenant Cameron Duncan George in our prayers.'

Lili wanted to correct the priest that Cam was a _second_-lieutenant but found herself unable to do so, as the priest continued, 'Normally this is the place where our solist would begin, however I've learned that Lili is a tad nervous about making sure she does a good job so I've called in a special favour to help her get started. Maestro.'

The lighting crew operating the stage lights and the sound board began the pre-recorded backup music for Lili's selection. From somewhere at the back of the church, someone began to sing, a male someone whose voice was familiar but she couldn't quite place it, not with the nerves running around beneath her skin and invading her ears like this.

_I don't want a lot for Christmas _  
><em>There's just one thing I need <em>

It was damning, the way Lili felt like she should know this voice, but her energy was focused as the singer began to move forward down the aisle.

_I don't care about the presents _  
><em>Underneath the Christmas tree <em>

Lili's heart began to beat faster and faster; she recognized the voice and saw the uniform, but...but it was impossible! He was still overseas. Wasn't he?

_I just want you for my own _  
><em>More than you could ever know <em>

Then he was clearing the glare of the spotlights and immediately, the tears welled up in Lili's eyes and spurted out as she pressed her hands to her mouth.

_Make my wish come true _  
><em>All I want for Christmas is... <em>  
><em>You <em>

'Cam!'

Forgetting everything - where she was, the occasion for the concert - Lili leaped down off the stage and sprinted up the aisle. She flew into his arms, felt him lift her off her feet and rock her back and forth as she crushed her mouth to his in a desperate kiss.

Cam closed his eyes as two tears trickled out, one from each eye; he held his fiesty, fierce Lili close and just drank her in. The scent of her skin, the taste of her, the feel of her silky hair through his fingers was everything to him in this moment. He nearly reached down to squeeze her ass, but when he heard the priest speak again, Cam instead dropped her back to her feet and brushed his thumbs over the apples of her cheeks.

'You're home,' she warble, eyes still streaming.

'Yeah, turns out the commander was able to give only a few guys their furloughs and he sent me. I'm here until the twenty-eighth.'

'Oh, God.' Lili wrapped her arms around his torso, squeezed tightly. Her sole Christmas wish had just come true. 'Oh, god! I have a song to finish!'

'I know, and I can't wait to hear it.' Despite having flown nearly around the clock to get home in time to hear her and pull off this surprise, Cam would do it all again if it meant she was the prize at the end of such a journey. 'Are your parents here?'

'Yeah, they're right up front. Come on, you can sit with them.'

Lili linked still-shaking fingers through his and led him up to the foremost row, where a weeping Rosita and Alejandro were standing waiting for him. They smothered him with kisses and embraces, then patted at his face as they sat down to finish hearing Lili sing.

'Well, I think it's safe to say now that Lili's confidence has returned,' Father Delgado teased her, then gave the nod to the sound mixers. 'Maestro, once more.'

Cam watched as Lili repeated the intro to the song he'd just performed, grinning when the tempo picked up and she began to sing with the passion of a Puerto-Rican Aretha Franklin.

_I don't want a lot for Christmas _  
><em>There's just one thing I need <em>  
><em>I don't care about the presents <em>  
><em>Underneath the Christmas tree <em>  
><em>I don't need to hang my stocking <em>  
><em>There upon the fireplace <em>  
><em>Santa Claus won't make me happy <em>  
><em>With a toy on Christmas day <em>  
><em>I just want you for my own <em>  
><em>More than you could ever know <em>  
><em>Make my wish come true <em>  
><em>All I want for Christmas is you <em>  
><em>You baby <em>

Cam watched as Lili took the mike from its stand and she moved around the stage. It was such a Lili thing to do: whenever she was excited about something, she was as stationary as a dervish.

_I won't ask for much this Christmas _  
><em>I don't even wish for snow <em>  
><em>I'm just gonna keep on waiting <em>  
><em>Underneath the mistletoe <em>  
><em>I won't make a list and send it <em>  
><em>To the North Pole for Saint Nick <em>  
><em>I won't even stay awake to <em>  
><em>Hear those magic reindeers click <em>  
><em>'Cause I just want you here tonight <em>  
><em>Holding on to me so tight <em>  
><em>What more can I do <em>  
><em>Baby all I want for Christmas is you <em>  
><em>Ooh baby <em>

Lili closed her eyes to keep the tears in her head so she wouldn't break down in the middle of her performance. This part was the reason she'd wanted to sing this song, as the final line of the bridge was the only way she could truly express her passionate longing for her husband on all those nights she waited up in case he called her from the base.

_All the lights are shining _  
><em>So brightly everywhere <em>  
><em>And the sound of children's <em>  
><em>Laughter fills the air <em>  
><em>And everyone is singing <em>  
><em>I hear those sleigh bells ringing <em>  
><em>Santa won't you bring me the one I really need <em>  
><em>Won't you please bring my baby to me... <em>

_Oh I don't want a lot for Christmas _  
><em>This is all I'm asking for <em>  
><em>I just want to see my baby <em>  
><em>Standing right outside my door <em>  
><em>Oh I just want you for my own <em>  
><em>More than you could ever know <em>  
><em>Make my wish come true <em>  
><em>Baby all I want for Christmas is... <em>  
><em>You<em>

Cam listened to her hit the final high note; the sound of it had goosebumps rippling over his skin. It made him think immediately of listening to her all but sing out his name as they made love. Tonight would be the first time they got to do so in three months and it was getting more and more difficult to put that moment off any longer.

Then he saw the love in her face as her voice faded on the final note of the final word and Cam knew if he had to wait a few more hours for that moment he would do it. When she gestured to him to come up on stage, he found the stairs and grinned as the children's choir came back and they began to sing Bob Marley's 'One Love' with the congregation joining in so their voices filled the cavernous space of the church.

As everyone applauded all efforts of the two choirs, and especially Lili's direction of the children's chorus, Cam took her in his arms and murmured in her ear, 'I know we're in church and all, but how long do you want to wait until we are...one love?'

'How fast can you get us a taxi home?' was her saucy reply. 'I made a toy-box for Meredeth for Christmas and added a few things for us.'

'Missus George-Esposito! We're in a church!'

'Tis the season to be naughty.'

Cam grinned as she kissed his cheek, gave him another tight squeezing hug. It was good to be home.

* * *

><p>'Ten years,' Lili sighed. 'So much has happened since then.'<p>

Cam twirled his lacquered-bamboo cane between his fingers, watched Meredeth and Esposito come in to join them, watched their babies, their son and daughter and nieces and nephews playing with such innocent exuberance. 'Yeah, it has. And has hard as its been, I wouldn't change a bit of it. Bum knee and all.'

'Neither would I.' Lili looked over with pursed lips, then whispered to her husband, 'I got a couple of new...stocking stuffers for our toy box.'

'Well, it's nice to see some things never change.'

'I love you Cam.'

'I love you, Lili.'


End file.
